With their offer of a $100 million down payment toward a new downtown arena, prospective Milwaukee Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens are thinking big.

As it turns out, so are some community leaders who see the possibility of a multipurpose arena as the centerpiece of a downtown Milwaukee entertainment district that could attract new hotels, restaurants and bars, housing and retail.

There is nothing specific on the table, largely because the ink isn't dry on former Sen. Herb Kohl's sale of the Bucks to Lasry and Edens for $550 million. National Basketball Commissioner Adam Silver has said he expects the sale to be considered by NBA owners within a month.

Yet while community leaders and elected officials wait for a new era in Bucks' basketball to start and are anxious to hear from the new owners face to face, that's not stopping some from thinking about the possibilities and the challenges ahead. Even the city's Department of City Development has begun studying options for potential development.

"As we've talked with Marc and Wesley, they are astute and they've been thinking about this for a long time," said Timothy Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, the region's most prominent pro-business group. "It's not their first rodeo. There is a lot they bring to Milwaukee. We want their understanding, their input and their advice and approval to move forward with the process of building and developing and building a downtown entertainment center."

John Daniels, a member of the MMAC's arena committee, said building a new facility holds the potential to be a transformative event in downtown Milwaukee. And they don't come around very often, he said.

"I'm very excited about it," Daniels said.

The arena committee is working with Hammes Co. to develop a financing and development plan for a proposed arena. One concept under consideration is a super tax incremental financing district that would capture sales taxes, income taxes and property taxes within the district. That idea would require the approval of the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker.

Walker said he's waiting to hear more. "So far, there is no plan on the table," he said in a statement. "Once we hear details of a plan from elected officials and civic leaders in Milwaukee, we will review and evaluate any role that might involve the state government. Any further comment right now would be premature."

Greg Marcus, president and CEO of Marcus Corp., which stands to benefit from a new arena and ancillary development nearby downtown with its hotel properties, said he has seen other cities where a new facility becomes part of an entertainment district. The model often cited is Oklahoma City, which has turned around its downtown with a series of construction projects paid for by limited-term sales taxes.

"They want to put $650 million in our community," Marcus said of Lasry and Edens, citing the purchase price and money toward an arena. "Somebody believes in us. It won't just benefit them. It will benefit all of us."

'Far-reaching impact'

Edens in particular has a strong real estate background, which may come into play in Milwaukee. In Florida, Edens is trying to develop All Aboard Florida, a privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail service to connect southern Florida with Orlando. Still in the planning stages, the project has been touted as something that will spin off economic development along the route.

Asked if a new Milwaukee arena held similar possibilities for new development, an Edens spokeswoman said, "I certainly think that could be the case."

Edens and Lasry also have sent signals that they will entertain local investors both in the team and in an arena project. That not only provides additional private capital, but gives credibility to the overall project. And Hammes Co., which is advising the MMAC arena committee, has had experience linking new arenas with new development.

Sheehy said he was not aware of the Florida rail project, but noted he wasn't surprised.

"That's the kind of thinking where I hoped this development would go, which is we are not just sticking to a new basketball court, but we are developing an entertainment venue that could have far-reaching impact in Milwaukee," he said.

Franklyn Gimbel is chairman of the Wisconsin Center District, which owns and operates the Wisconsin Center convention center, the U.S. Cellular Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre. He says talk about what a new arena can do for downtown is premature. He said it was an important and productive step for the prospective owners and Kohl to each offer $100 million toward a new arena.

"The fact that $200 million has been ponied up does not mean there will be a new basketball and entertainment building to replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center," he said Thursday. "There's a little space to travel until the public buys in to supplement it with some kind of tax."

So far, county boards in Racine, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties have backed resolutions opposing any kind of regional tax to fund an expanded convention center or arena for the Bucks.

Gimbel said the Bucks were worth keeping in town.

"I'm in favor of anything that keeps Milwaukee a big-league city. If there's a risk of losing the Bucks, that would be a horrible price to pay as an alternative to having some public skin in the game," he said. "It would be a negative in terms of the...impact to the community."

Where would it be built?

Gimbel also is well aware of speculation that the land where the U.S. Cellular Arena and Milwaukee Theatre now stand could be the site of a new arena.

"I'm reading about these people talking about tearing down the Cell and tearing down the Milwaukee Theatre," he said. "That's a conversation that's way ahead of the game.

"My personal view is that tearing those buildings down is a non-starter without having a lot more information. In the event there comes a point in time when they find financing for a new Bucks' arena, how big will it be, and does the footprint of the new arena actually fit in the footprint of the Cell and the Milwaukee Theatre? And then what will happen to the BMO Harris Bradley Center?"

The BMO Harris Bradley Center is approximately 550,000 square feet. Newer NBA arenas have at least 200,000 more square feet.

There also is the question of debt at the Wisconsin Center District. The convention center has $156.6 million in bonds outstanding; the theater bonds are at $27.4 million. Both debts are scheduled to be fully paid off in 2032. Sales taxes on hotel rooms, on prepared food and drink in restaurants and taverns, as well as a car rental tax, repay those bonds.

Mayor Tom Barrett's administration will play a crucial role in planning for a new arena and possible ancillary development. Rocky Marcoux, commissioner of the Department of City Development, declined to comment.

In September, Marcoux said his opinion was that a new arena should be built where the U.S. Cellular Arena and Milwaukee Theatre now stand.

The most obvious option is to the north of the BMO Harris Bradley Center and in the Park East corridor. The land is vacant, but it is several blocks away from the convention center.

"It's not an insignificant decision, but until we figure out the financing mechanism and how that works, the location is secondary," Sheehy said. "And certainly from the perspective of the new ownership, they want to learn a lot more before they make that kind of decision. And we all agreed it has to be made with the team and the community."